Himani after passing of the Professional examination conducted by the MM Professional Institute underwent the requisite training and got the membership of the Institute. She also applied and got the Certificate of Practi

CS Professional · Labour Laws and Practice · PYQS · December 2024
Himani after passing of the Professional examination conducted by the MM Professional Institute underwent the requisite training and got the membership of the Institute. She also applied and got the Certificate of Practice. However, Himani was not sure in which field she should start the practice looking to the competition in each of the area, whether it be the company related issues or taxation and the new comers have to face the challenges too. Himani's father, Rakesh is an Advocate and has been in practice for matters relating to the labour laws. Himani used to spend most of the time in her father's office and observed that there is a good scope in doing practice in labour audit. Rakesh used to discuss with Himani the cases he used to plead in the labour court and most of them were relating to the Provident Fund, Child Labour, Contract Labour, Workmen's Compensation and Industrial Disputes. Rakesh also introduced Himani to some his corporate clients. Very soon Himani was entrusted to do the labour audit for some of the companies on which various provisions of the labour laws applies. One day Himani was invited by the City Law College to address the law students on the topic of the Industrial Relations Code, 2019. Himani agreed and prepared her speech and addressed the law students, faculties and distinguished guests which were present in the seminar. The speech of Himani was well appreciated. During the question-answer session, one of the law students raised a query that Parliament had enacted number of labour laws for regulating employment and conditions of service of workers. Whenever a new law is enacted, it prescribes certain registers to be maintained by the employers and for furnishing of returns of various details to the concerned enforcing authorities. This creates lot of complications on the part of the employer in dealing with compliances of these provisions. Whether the submission of multiplicity of returns can be exempted? Himani also addressed this issue to the satisfaction of concerned students and for the knowledge of the audience. Jhanvi, a law faculty of the college, appreciated the speech given by Himani. She also asked Himani, how India has made specific representation of the major deliberative organ of the International Labour Organisation. Himani also elaborated over this issue. At last, Jhanvi gave the vote of thanks. One day, a case was brought into the knowledge of Rakesh (father of Himani). In this case, there is a factory, in which the workers were agitating against the management and the union leader appealed to the workmen for not going into the factory for work. However, some of the workers ignored the command of the union leader and attended their work schedule in the factory. At the end of the working hours, when the workers (who attended the factory work) were returning to their home, were attacked by other parties and were severally injured. The injured workers asked the management of the factory to provide them the amount of insurance on the plea that it is an employment injury. Based on the given facts, answer the following questions: During the question - answer session, one of the law students raised a query before Himani that whether the submission of multiplicity of returns under the various labour laws can be exempted ? Draft a suitable reply of such query raised by the student.

Answer & Explanation:

The Labour Laws (Simplification of Procedure for Furnishing Returns and Maintaining Registers by Certain Establishments) Act, 1988 provides for the simplification of procedure for furnishing returns and maintaining registers in relation to establishments employing a small number of persons under certain labour laws. Further, section 2(c) of The Labour Laws (Simplification of Procedure for Furnishing Returns and Maintaining Registers by Certain Establishments) Act, 1988 defines Form which means a Form specified in the Second Schedule. The following forms are specified in the second schedule. They are as under: Form I- Annual Return (To be furnished to the Inspector or the authority specified for this purpose under the respective Scheduled Act before the 30th April of the following year) Form II-Register of persons employed-cum-employment card. Form III- Muster roll-cum-wage register. Small Establishment In terms of Section 2(e) of The Labour Laws (Simplification of Procedure for Furnishing Returns and Maintaining Registers by Certain Establishments) Act, 1988, "small establishment" means an establishment in which not less than ten and not more than forty persons are employed or were employed on any day of the preceding twelve months. Very Small Establishment In terms of Section 2(f) of The Labour Laws (Simplification of Procedure for Furnishing Returns and Maintaining Registers by Certain Establishments) Act, 1988, "very small establishment" means an establishment in which not more than nine persons are employed or were employed on any day of the preceding twelve months. Exemption from furnishing or maintaining returns and registers requires under certain labour laws. Section 4(1) of the Act provides an exemption from furnishing or maintaining of returns and registers requires under certain labour laws, which reads as under: (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in a Scheduled Act, on and from the commencement of the Labour Laws (Exemption from Furnishing Returns and Maintaining Registers by certain Establishments) Amendment Act, 2014, it shall not be necessary for an employer in relation to any small establishment or very small establishment to which a Scheduled Act applies, to furnish the returns or to maintain the registers required to be furnished or maintained under that Scheduled Act: Provided that such employer- furnishes, in lieu of such returns, annual return in Form I; and maintains, in lieu of such registers, - registers in Form II and Form III, in the case of small establishments, and a register in Form III, in the case of very small establishments, at the work spot: Provided further that every such employer shall continue to- issue wage slips in the Form prescribed in the Minimum Wages (Central) Rules, 1950 made under sections 18 and 30 of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 and slips relating to the measurement of the amount of work done by piece-rated workers required to be issued under the Payment of Wages (Mines) Rules, 1956 made under sections 13A and 26 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1936; and file returns relating to accidents under sections 88 and 88A of the Factories Act, 1948 and sections 32A and 32B of the Plantations Labour Act, 1951. (2) The annual return in Form I and the registers in Forms II and III and wage slips, wage books and other records, as provided in sub-section (1), may be maintained by an employer either in physical form or on a computer, computer floppy, diskette or other electronic media: Provided that in case of a computer, computer floppy, diskette or other electronic form, a printout of such returns, registers, books and records or a portion thereof is made available to the Inspector on demand. (3) The employer or the person responsible for furnishing the annual return in Form I may furnish it to the Inspector or any other authority prescribed under the Scheduled Acts either in physical form or through electronic mail if the Inspector or the authority has the facility to receive such electronic mail. (4) Save as provided in sub-section (1), all other provisions of a Scheduled Act, including the inspection of the registers by, and furnishing of their copies to, the authorities under that Act, shall apply to the returns and registers required to be furnished or maintained under this Act as they apply to the returns and registers under that Scheduled Act. (5) Where an employer in respect of an establishment referred to in sub-section (1), to whom a Scheduled Act applies, furnishes returns or maintains the registers as provided in the proviso to sub-section (1), nothing contained in that Scheduled Act shall render him liable to any penalty for his failure to furnish any return or to maintain any register under that Scheduled Act.

Topics: Compliance Management

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